GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT

Stylistic flourishes, variety of tone, rich characterization, convoluted relationships, and excessive discursiveness inform this British procedural, set in Yorkshire. Abrasive Detective Superintendent Dalziel and gentlemanly DCI Pascoe, heroes of 19 novels and 10 seasons on BBC TV, investigate an apparent suicide. Exactly 10 years after his father's suicide, the son seems to have killed himself in the same place and manner. But the circumstances are suspicious. Sandpaper-voiced Shaun Dooley handles the narrative serviceably in an authentic regional accent. He excels in the many long dialogue and monologue passages, which he delivers with depth, color, and understatement. What he and the novel lack is suspense. It's as if the case were merely an excuse for a sojourn among these characters. Y.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 07]